Diagnostic yield of sentinel lymph node biopsy in oral squamous cell carcinoma T1/T2-N0: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in T1/T2-N0 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). A systematic review of the literature on SLNB until March 2019 was conducted. The review was organized according to the PRISMA protocol, considering the following PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) question: What is the sensitivity of sentinel lymph node biopsy in OSCC? ‘P’ was patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma T1/2-N0; ‘I’ was SLNB; ‘C’ was neck treated with elective neck dissection and haematoxylin–eosin histopathology; ‘O’ was sensitivity and specificity. A meta-analysis and meta-regression were performed on the selected studies. The sensitivity of SLNB was up to 88% (95% confidence interval (CI) 72–96%) and specificity was up to 99% (95% CI 96–100%). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.99 (95% CI 0.98–1.00). In the four studies where immunohistochemistry was performed, both the sensitivity and specificity were higher than in the studies without immunohistochemistry: 93% (95% CI 88–97%) and 98% (95% CI 96–100%), respectively. In conclusion, SLNB is an effective technique for treating patients with some types of stage T1/2-N0 OSCC. Some parameters such as immunohistochemistry could determine the level of diagnostic accuracy.